When it comes to electric vehicles, range anxiety appears to be the least of fleet operators’ concerns, for small vans and cars at least.
Polled by The Energyst, 34 fleet operators said they were all planning to integrate EVs into their fleets within the next 12-24 months. Three quarters (76 per cent) have at least 100 vehicles in their fleets and 58 per cent said small vans make up the majority of their fleets, followed by cars as the majority (for 30 per cent). Only a few respondents (12 per cent) said their fleets were predominantly larger vans (3.5t+).
Three quarters of fleet operators said they would need to charge both during the day and at night, and around half said staff take vehicles home at night.
Asked what kind of daily mileage they need from a battery, the majority stated under 150 miles.
While technically possible on a single charge according to the claims made by the likes of Citroen, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault and Vauxhall, real world range is highly dependent on driver and conditions.
But fleet operators do not seem unduly concerned.
Asked to rate the biggest barriers to EV fleet uptake on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 as the most significant barrier and 5 as least significant), lack of vehicle volume carried the lowest weighted average (2.43), followed by a lack of larger vans in particular (2.93). Insufficient UK charging infrastructure and expense were mid-ranking concerns (both 3.10). Vehicle range appears to be the least significant barrier at a weighted average of 3.61.
Fleet operators made up about 10 per cent of the broader survey, which also carries subsections on company car fleets and workplace charging as well as destination charging.
Full findings, alongside in-depth interviews with fleet operators, car leasing and rental firms, charge point networks, energy companies, consultants, national and local grid operators and technology companies, will be published on 20 July.
Free EV webinars
To mark the report launch, The Energyst is also hosting a series of free webinars from 21-23 July, from 10:30-12.15 each day.
Speakers include experts from report sponsors Arup, EDF, Good Energy, Total Gas & Power, plus insight from Cenex, DPD, Engenie, Enterprise, ev.energy, John Lewis Partnership, Mitie, National Grid, Nuvve, TLT, Western Power Distribution and Zap-Map.
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